Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is composed of experts in the fields of proteomics and bioinformatics and the leaders of the biomarker teams.

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Steering Committee Chair

• Lee HARTWELL, Ph.D. [lhartwel@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Hartwell is President and Director of FHCRC and pioneered the use of genetics to define the cell cycle and to understand its control and role in carcinogenesis. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous awards for his research, including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. In 2001, Dr. Hartwell received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the genetic control of cell division and the discovery of cell cycle checkpoints that signal arrest of the cell cycle in the presence of DNA damage. His current research focus is on the early detection of cancer.

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Steering Committee Experts

• Ruedi AEBERSOLD, Ph.D. [ruedi@systemsbiology.org]
  Dr. Aebersold is a Professor and Co-Founder of ISB. He is one of the pioneers in the field of proteomics and is known for developing a series of methods that have found wide application in analytical protein chemistry and proteomics. Most recently, his group developed a method for the rapid identification and accurate quantification of cellular proteins, i.e., for the generation of cellular "protein profiles." The method is based on a new class of reagents termed Isotope Coded Affinity Tags, or ICAT reagents, for mass spectrometry.
• N. Leigh ANDERSON, Ph.D. [leighanderson@plasmaproteome.org]
  Dr. Anderson is Founder and CEO of the Plasma Proteome Institute, which aims to foster a comprehensive exploration of the proteins of human blood plasma (the plasma proteome) and the rapid application of novel protein measurements in clinical diagnostics. Prior to founding PPI, Dr. Anderson was Chief Scientific Officer at Large Scale Biology Corporation, where he developed the first automated two-dimensional electrophoresis technology platform for proteomics research, and pioneered a range of applications in drug discovery, toxicology, and surrogate markers. Most recently, Dr. Anderson has reviewed the status of the plasma proteome (Anderson, N.L. and Anderson, N.G. Mol & Cell Proteomics, 2002), and initiated programs at PPI to develop a database of proteins in plasma (Anderson, N.L.,et al. Mol Cell Proteomics, 2004) and a new method for measuring candidate protein markers in plasma (SISCAPA; Anderson, N.L.,et al. J. Proteome Res., 2004).
• Richard M. CAPRIOLI, Ph.D. [richard.m.caprioli@vanderbilt.edu]
  Dr. Caprioli has been a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University since 1998. Professor Caprioli is interested in the use of mass spectrometry for the analysis of compounds in biological systems. Current work includes the use of electrospray and laser desorption ionization methods with biological tissues and samples. Recent work involves the development of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, a technique whereby molecular images of peptides, proteins, drugs and other compounds are localized in tissue sections with molecular weight specificity. This method involves molecular mapping of animal tissue through the production of ion images obtained from the analysis of mammalian tissue.
• Steven CARR, Ph.D. [scarr@broad.mit.edu]
  Dr. Carr leads the Proteomics and Biomarker Discovery efforts at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Carr's research for the last 25 years has focused on applying and developing proteomics methods to characterize protein pathways, understanding the mechanism of action of drug candidates, defining biomarkers of disease and drug effect, and building an understanding of protein targets and their roles in disease. He has over 125 peer-reviewed publications on development and use of proteomics and biological mass spectrometry.
• Samir HANASH, Ph.D. [shanash@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Hanash is a Full Member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the FHCRC. He has developed liquid-phase protein separation technology for dissecting the proteome and is working on ways to combine this with mass spectrometry into one fully automated system. With this technology he is generating proteomic data on a variety of cancers. Dr. Hanash is past president of the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) and current Chair of the HUPO Executive Council.
• Martin MCINTOSH, Ph.D. [mmcintos@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. McIntosh is an Associate Member in the Public Health Sciences Division at the FHCRC and Head of the Center's Computational Proteomics Laboratory. He presently serves in leadership positions both at FHCRC and nationally, including on advisory panels for early detection (three NCI and one cancer institute). He is one of 35 founding members of the American HUPO Council, the North American arm of the worldwide HUPO initiative. He has authored several publications on theoretical and practical considerations for combining biomarkers, algorithms for cancer early detection, and screening algorithms. Dr. McIntosh will lead the Consortium's bioinformatics development team at FHCRC, which will undertake development of the database and computational infrastructure.
• Amanda PAULOVICH, M.D., Ph.D. [apaulovi@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Paulovich is board-certified and fully licensed in Internal Medicine and board-eligible in Adult Oncology. As an oncology fellow at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, she has three years of clinical experience diagnosing and treating malignancies. While a graduate student in Genetics, she trained in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Dr. Leland Hartwell studying checkpoint regulation of cell cycle progression in yeast in response to DNA damaging agents as well as studying genetic mechanisms used by yeast cells to tolerate and survive irreparable DNA damage. As a postdoctoral fellow with Drs. Eric Lander and Todd Golub at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research, she gained considerable genomics experience generating and analyzing large microarray datasets, geared at finding biomarkers of cancer risk. In September 2004, she joined the faculty of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as Director of the Center's new Early Detection Initiative, and is continuing to pursue her interest in biomarkers of cancer risk and detection, using proteomic technologies such as mass spectrometry.
• Richard D. SMITH, Ph.D. [dick.smith@pnl.gov]
  Dr. Smith is Chief Scientist and Battelle Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. Dr. Smith's research has primarily focused on the development and application of advanced analytical methods and instrumentation, with particular emphasis on high resolution separations and mass spectrometry, and their applications in biological research. His research has included the original development of capillary electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometry and the advancement of methods for the ultra-sensitive characterization of biopolymers. His current research emphasis involves the development and application of new methods for quantitatively probing the entire array of proteins expressed by a cell, tissue, or organism, i.e., its "proteome."

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Biomarker Team Leaders

• Laura BERETTA, Ph.D. (Liver – FHCRC Team PI) [lberetta@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Beretta is an Associate Member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and she also holds an appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Washington. Her current research focuses on the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and associated liver cancer. Dr. Beretta uses a combination of proteomics and gene silencing technologies to identify cellular proteins involved in HCV replication in hepatocytes. Her group has also embarked on a major effort to integrate genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics for identifying new markers for early HCC diagnosis and for identifying defective signaling pathways and their signatures in hepatocytic transformation. Dr. Beretta is a founding member of the Board of Directors of U.S. HUPO (Human Proteome Organisation) and she currently serves as chair of the HUPO Human Liver Proteome Project (HLPP). Dr. Beretta is PI of grants from NIDDK and NIAID and also receives support from the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) at NCI for her study on HCC biomarkers.
• Lee HARTWELL, Ph.D. (Breast – FHCRC Team PI) [lhartwel@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Hartwell is President and Director of FHCRC and pioneered the use of genetics to define the cell cycle and to understand its control and role in carcinogenesis. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous awards for his research, including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. In 2001, Dr. Hartwell received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the genetic control of cell division and the discovery of cell cycle checkpoints that signal arrest of the cell cycle in the presence of DNA damage. His current research focus is on the early detection of cancer.
• Fuchu HE, Ph.D. (Liver – BPRC/BIRM Team PI) [hefc@nic.bmi.ac.cn; hefc@cnhupo.org]
  Dr. He is the Director of the China National Center of Biomedical Analysis and leads the biomarker discovery team from China which will focus on liver cancer. Dr. He is currently the Professor of Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Director of Beijing (National) Proteome Research Center, President of the Chinese Human Proteome Organisation (CNHUPO), and Chair of the Human Liver Proteome Project (HLPP). He has been a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2001.
• David LANE, Ph.D. (Stomach – A*STAR/NUS Team PI) [d.p.lane@imcb.a-star.edu.sg]
  Dr. Lane is Executive Director of Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and concurrently serving as Director of the Cancer Research UK Cell Transformation Research Group and Professor of Oncology at the University of Dundee in Scotland. Dr. Lane is distinguished for his original discovery of p53, the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer. He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization and a Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom's premier scientific academy.
• John M. LUK, Dr.Med.Sc. (Liver – HKU Team Co-PI) [jmluk@hkucc.hku.hk]
  Dr. Luk received doctoral training at Karolinska Institute and established expertise in HCC, cell adhesion molecules, and antibody engineering. He has published 70 international papers and 2 U.S. patents, and deposited 33 novel DNA sequences in the PubMed GeneBank database. He recently received a Visiting Professorship of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
• Young-Ki PAIK, Ph.D. (Liver – YPRC Team PI) [paikyk@yonsei.ac.kr]
  Dr. Paik is a Professor of Department of Biochemistry and Director of YPRC/BPRC and has been actively engaged in the proteomics field by serving as a director of the Korean Human Plasma Proteome Project, a Senior Editor for PROTEOMICS, Editorial Board Member for MCP and Clinical Proteomics, and Secretary General of HUPO and AOHUPO. His research interests are discovery of biomarker for HCC and regulatory molecules for aging (in animal model). He has established YPRC/BPRC as a flagship center in the nation and has carried out major roles in education, training, and technical services in the field of proteomics throughout the country since 1999.
• Chia C. PAO, Ph.D. (Nasopharynx – CGU Team PI) [ccpao@mail.cgu.edu.tw]
  Dr. Pao is the President and professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Chang Gung University. He is a well-known virologist working on human papillomaviruses and cervical carcinoma. He has established molecular diagnosis techniques for detection of HPV in clinical samples. He oversees the Biomarker Discovery program carried out at Chang Gung Molecular Medicine Research Center.
• Nicole URBAN, ScD. (Ovary – FHCRC Team PI) [nurban@fhcrc.org]
  Dr. Urban is a Member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and an expert in health services, especially in the area of screening for cancer. She is PI on several research grants dealing with ovarian cancer on topics that include behavioral/psychosocial interventions, micro simulation modeling, and molecular biology. Dr. Urban has expertise in quantitative research and substantial knowledge about cancer screening policy and biology.
• Tesshi YAMADA, M.D., Ph.D. (Pancreas – NCCRI Team PI) [tyamada@ncc.go.jp]
  Dr. Yamada is Chief of Chemotherapy Division and Project Leader for the Cancer Proteomics Project. His expertise is in the field of Bioinformatics. This team will be working on "Improving Early Detection of Pancreatic Center with a Blood Test" and is supported by a "Third Team Comprehensive Control Research for Cancer" grant from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.
• Hyang-Sook YOO, Ph.D. (Liver – KRIBB Team PI) [yoohyang@kribb.re.kr]
  Dr. Yoo leads the Functional Genome Project of Korea which will focus on gastric and liver cancer genome analysis. In addition, Dr. Yoo leads the Korean biomarker discovery team coordinated through her home institution the Korea Research Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology. The biomarker team will include team members from Chungnam National University General Hospital, Eulji University Hospital, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, and Korea Basic Science Institute.
• Myeong-Hee YU, Ph.D. (Breast – FPC Team PI) [mhyu@kist.re.kr]
  Dr. Yu leads the Functional Proteomics Center, one of 21C Frontier R&D Initiatives of Korean Ministry of Science and Technology. The Center's goal is to establish infrastructure of proteomics core technology in Korea with a mission identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic target proteins for human diseases. The research teams in the program are to focus on technology development for proteome separation and identification, as well as on proteomic analysis of samples from disease models and appropriate patients, which will be followed by studies on protein networks and disease mechanisms. She has been a member of the Korean National Academy of Science and Technology since 2002.